Time to mentor a trainee

[Topica]

Is it normal to be allocated time within the core timetable to mentor a trainee?

I'm on the minimum PPA in secondary, and three hours a week non context is tough as it is.

Not only will I be checking in, quality assuring lesson planning, observing and filling out a mountain of paperwork on top of my normal role, there's a university requirement to block off an hour for a weekly meeting in the trainee's timetable.

Should I receive an hour off timetable, like a line management meeting, or do I have to spend my PPA on this?

3 hours of non contact*

I mentored a trainee last year - like you minimum PPA and was expected to just use my non contact time to do everything. Now trainee is a member of our department and my HOD gets allocated time off timetable for ECT mentor meetings but I wasn't permitted the same when she was a trainee!

We don't allocate non contact for mentoring - I get it as part of my role which is whole school, but subject mentors don't.

My school has refused to have trainees this year because the time requirements have become so huge.

No time given here either. Weekly meetings in my PPA. If I wasn't part time I don't think I'd have the capacity.

The idea is that you are supposed to have time freed up by them teaching your classes (unlike an ECT) but sometimes they only end up teaching 3 or 4 of my lessons a fortnight and the time spent checking their lesson plans and feeding back means it's not really a benefit.

I don’t get time (Primary). In theory you get time back when they teach but it doesn’t really work that way. Have always done mentor meetings etc after school on a set day.

I’ve mentored many trainees in many schools and never been given dedicated time. Later in the year it can be a great help as a good trainee will be planning and teaching almost independently but in the first placement it is very labour-intensive with minimal payoff. Sorry. The best I have managed is to get the scheduled mentor meeting protected so I won’t be used for cover.

In theory you should be given a designated hour each week (outside of your usual PPA) to meet. In practice many schools don’t give you that.

The DfE guidance states:

Your mentor sessions should be scheduled during teaching hours wherever possible, as schools receive DfE funding to cover your time off timetable.
^^
In exceptional circumstances, mentoring may take place outside of teaching hours but these sessions should always be scheduled within contracted time.

I would push this point with the person who oversees ECTs, as it isn’t fair that one of your PPAs each week is taken up by this, in addition to all of the other responsibilities you have as a mentor.

Apologies, I realise that I have spoken from the perspective of an mentoring an ECT as opposed to a trainee. The guidance may differ for that but it’s nevertheless unfair to expect you to do all of this in your PPA

What the dfe singularly fails to mention in the guidance is that the funding of which they so blithely speak only comes at the end of the year.

It's really hard. Schools want ECTs as financially they're more viable, but from experience, very few schools want to support the training year.

I appreciate the OP's viewpoint. Yes, I think they should receive at least one hour off timetable to support with the weekly mentor meeting.

However, thinking big picture, how ol

Posted before finishing....

How are schools ever going to recruit skilled ECTs if noone is willing to support and invest during the training?

A very tough balance to find.

very few schools want to support the training year.

We are quite happy to support the training year but there aren't enough trainees to go around the local schools. This year is particularly dire.

This. We can take up to 6 trainees at a time. We have none this term.

It speaks to the ITE picture nationally then I suppose. There are some cold spots, not helped by recent re-accreditation processes.

I am in a spot where we are struggling to recruit trainees because schools won't offer places. We have capacity to train them, but no where to place them. I want to work where you are based. 🙂

If they're good @Glera send them north!